Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals

ISSN: 1542-1406 (Print) 1563-5287 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gmcl20

Analysis of stress field in Al2O3-ZrO2 biomaterials

by finite element method

S. Laasri, M. Es-Sadik, M. Taha, A. Laghzizil, E.K. Hlil & A. Hajjaji

To cite this article: S. Laasri, M. Es-Sadik, M. Taha, A. Laghzizil, E.K. Hlil & A. Hajjaji (2016)
Analysis of stress field in Al2O3-ZrO2 biomaterials by finite element method, Molecular Crystals and
Liquid Crystals, 627:1, 141-147, DOI: 10.1080/15421406.2015.1137130

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/15421406.2015.1137130

Published online: 13 May 2016.

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 MOL. CRYST. LIQ. CRYST.
, VOL. , –
http://dx.doi.org/./..

Analysis of stress field in Al O -ZrO biomaterials by finite

element method
S. Laasria , M. Es-Sadikb , M. Tahab , A. Laghzizilc , E.K. Hlild , and A. Hajjajia
a
Laboratoire des Sciences de l’Ingénieur pour l’Energie, Ecole Nationale des Sciences Appliquées d’El Jadida, BP
 EL Jadida Plateau , Maroc; b Laboratoire de Thermodynamique et Energétique, Université Ibn-Zohr,
Faculté des Sciences, BP  Agadir Morocco; c Laboratoire de Chimie Physique Générale, Faculté des Sciences,
Université Mohammed V-Agdal, BP. Rabat Morocco.; d Institut Néel, CNRS et Université Joseph Fourier, BP
, Grenoble, France
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ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
We present an investigation of the mechanical properties of Al2 O3 -ZrO2 Bioceramic; Al O /ZrO ;
as duplex-structured materials using the finite element method (FEM). Mechanic properties; Finite
The creation of stress fields are a result of the material trying to dissipate element modelling; D
reconstruction
mechanical energy that is being exerted on the biomaterial. By finite ele-
ment modelling and the stress fields, as either compressive or tensile, we
can understand how inclusions interact with each other bioceramic lat-
tice containing alumina in the presence of different zirconia contents.
The stress fields can be applied to various strengthening mechanisms in
bioceramic. They can be created by adding several inclusions in alumina
lattice.

1. Introduction
Bioceramics became an accepted group of materials for medical applications, mainly for
implants in orthopaedics, maxillofacial surgery and for dental implants [1–3]. In the last years,
layered configurations have been studied as a structural option for improving the mechani-
cal behavior and reliability of ceramics. Presently, bioceramics have become a diverse class
of biomaterials including three basic types: (i) bioactive ceramics as calcium phosphate that
forms direct chemical bonded with bone or even with soft tissue of a living organism, (ii)
bioresorbable (bioglass and glass ceramics) ceramics that actively participate in the metabolic
processes of an organism, and (iii) bio-inert high strength ceramics such as alumina (Al2 O3 )
and zirconia (ZrO2 ). Zirconia is a most used biomaterial that has a higher mechanical strength
and fracture toughness, while alumina is the most studied material for the implants develop-
ment considered as low-cost with easily manipulation. Besides, it is widely used on numerous
domains in particular in the orthopaedic applications. The combination of various bioceram-
ics with the development of partially stabilized zirconia and alumina is the part of biomateri-
als world becoming increasingly important in medical devises. The mechanical properties of
Al2 O3 -ZrO2 bioceramic materials are largely discussed [1–4]. Contrary to alumina ceramic,
the zirconia is a very interesting potential candidate for orthopaedic devices due to its excep-
tional mechanical properties such as the tenacity and fracture [1]. As disvantage, they can be

CONTACT S. Laasri laasrisaid@yahoo.fr

©  Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
 142 S. LAASRI ET AL.

affected by ageing phenomenon in humid environment degrading their mechanical proper-

ties related to structural phase change from unstable tetragonal to the monoclinic stable phase
[2–5]. For this aim, the addition of Al2 O3 to ZrO2 system is necessary to avoid the ageing
process of zirconia [2–4]. Several mechanisms could jointly contribute to the improvement
of the mechanical properties of these interesting composites such as reinforcement by micro-
cracking, deviation or cracks decking [6]. In the addition porosity and number of defects
and defect sizes are minimized using sintering step under inert gas pressure [7]. Generally as
known, the natural cracks learn from the pre-existent defects and afterward tend to propagate
in internal ceramic. To hinder their distribution, inclusions were introduced to toughen the
ceramic matrix which keep the high values of hardness and flexion toughness and favor the
micro-cracks by the introduced inclusions. By using a finite element method, we have studied
the zirconia reinforcement in alumina matrix, involving the interaction between the field in
frontage constraints of crack and the residual constraints around the reinforced zones. The
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influence of crack position and length on the dynamic characteristics of inclusions have been
simulated and discussed. From such simulations, we are able to demonstrate that the crack
position and crack length affect the gear’s natural frequency as well as vibration shape.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Finite element model (FEM)

The Cast3m calculations code is used in this work for structural analysis based on the finite
element method. This code, developed by the Mechanical and Technology Department of
Atomic Energy Commission (CEA-France), is widely used in fluid dynamics and materials
science [8–10]. FEM is a numerical technique for finding approximate solutions to bound-
ary value problems. Indeed, FEM encompasses accurate representation of complex geometry,
inclusion of dissimilar material properties, easy representation of the total elucidation, as well
as capture of local cracks effects to solve complex elasticity. The finite elements implanted in
the software are of linear chap, quadratic in one (1D), two (2D), and three (3D) dimensions.
However, this software does not have an interface, what makes their manipulation more dif-
ficult.

2.2. Materials
The finite element modelling provides detailed information regarding the development of
stress fields associated with several inclusions. In this way, it becomes possible to analyze
the micro-cracks inside the Al2 O3 bio-ceramic. The modelling conditions are: (a) Matrix
in alumina, (b) Inclusion of Al2 O3 +x%.ZrO2 (noted AZx ), (c) The inclusion effect on the
matrix likened to an internal pressure with their values depends on the zirconia content in
the reinforcement zone, (d) The inter-inclusion distance depends on the inclusion percent-
age in matrix volume, (e) The mechanical and geometrical properties are taken according to
those reported by Lutz et al. [11–12].

2.3. Meshes and boundary conditions

The meshes are created by quadrilateral elements with 8 nodes in 2 dimensions (figure 1).The
material behavior is elastic isotropic.
 MOL. CRYST. LIQ. CRYST. 143

Figure . Meshes and boundary conditions.

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Table . Materials properties [].

Properties Young modulus Poisson ratio density tensile strength

Alumina  GPa . . g/cm  MPa

The properties of material are illustrated in the Table 1:

Boundary conditions are applied as follows (figure 1):
• Lines AB and EF are blocked in the X direction.
• Lines CD and HG are blocked in the Y direction
• The all surface is blocked in the z direction.

3. Results and discussions

During the ceramic cooling, some zones in bio-ceramic dilate with zirconia content. Here,
we present a numerical study of the stress fields around spherical inclusions Al2 O3 -x%ZrO2 ,
where x is the of zirconia contenting reinforcement zone (Figure 2). The finite element mod-
elling takes into account the experimental studies carried out by Lutz and coll. [11] on ceramic
samples. If zones B are the phase transformation or thermal expansion related to the difference
in dilation and thermal coefficients εV in reinforcement Al2 O3 matrix, the expansion in vol-
ume, according to eaquation reported by Lutz and coll. [12] is: [εV = V V
+ 3.(αA − αB ).T ],
where [ V
V
] represents the variation in volume related to the transformation phase ZrO2 (zone

Figure . (a) Duplex structure, (b) Duplex structure according to Lutz.

 144 S. LAASRI ET AL.
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Figure . Description of the studied geometry.

B), [αA andαB ] are thermal dilatation coefficients of A and B spheres, respectively. The [T ]
is the temperature deviation in the considered conditions.
The pressure with the interface inclusion-matrix is expressed as:
  B 3 
r
Piso = −C. 1 − A
B
(1)
r
Where
1/2EA .EB .εV
C= 3
2EA .(1 − 2νB ) + EB (1 + νA ) + [2.EB .(1 − 2νA ) − EA (1 − 2νB )]( RRB )
A

With (EA and EB ), (VA and VB ) and (RA and RB ) are the Young’s Modulus, Poisson coefficients
and inter-inclusion for A and B, respectively.
The spherical inclusion effect is compared to an internal pressure that its value depends on
the zirconia content in each inclusion. The figure 3 shows the scheme for the used geometrical
matrix for internal pressure calculations.
According to the conditions considered by Lutz [13], the calculated pressures for optimum
Al2 O3 -x%ZrO2 ceramics are reported in figure 4.This internal pressure decreases when the
RB /RA ratio increases. However, this pressure also increases with zirconia content such as
reported elsewhere [15].Then, we conclude that Al2 O3 -35%ZrO2 bioceramic is considered as
the most selected zirconia content in view of suitable rupture with lower internal pressure
than 1000 MPa [14].
From finite element construction applied on the quadratic system at four nodes, the figure 5
shows the internal pressure effect on the cylindrical plate, which confirms that the pressure
field is radial with an increase of the principal constraint with ZrO2 content such as reported
elsewhere [1–3].Consequently, the reinforcement in ceramic containing alumina and zirco-
nia compounds is related to the interaction between the stress field in frontal crack and the
residual stress fields around spherical inclusions. However, the elastic energy stored around
the spherical zones should not exceed the propagation energy of cracks [16]. Based on Sels-
ing and Lundin models, Lutz [11] calculated the radial and tangential constraints around
spherical inclusions. He considers that the duplex structure includes a spherical and dense
 MOL. CRYST. LIQ. CRYST. 145

Figure . Internal pressures for Al O -x%wt.ZrO inclusion as the function of RB /RA .
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Figure . Typical patch before and after internal pressure effect.

implement, which wrap other small sphere B (Figure 1b).From results computed by the finite
element method (Figure 6) applied to 65% Al2 O3 -35%ZrO2 ceramic, the first stress field is
very intense in frontal inclusion and decreases quickly towards zero value in extreme cases of
the cylindrical plate. Additionally, this stress field decreases by increasing the inclusion size.
From this result point of view, we consider that a good correlation with results given by the
continuous fluid dynamics is established.

Figure . Distribution of the st principal constraints as the function RB /RA for the case or inclusion is made
up of % from Al O and % of ZrO (AZ).
 146 S. LAASRI ET AL.

Figure . Schematic figure showing the regular matrix.

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To solve the created stress field around a number of spherical inclusions by finite element
method, the inter-inclusion distance was varied to amplify ceramic matrix during the defor-
mation in alumina ceramic with the presence of hot working zirconia. Therefore, the mor-
phology of inclusions in wrought ceramics is largely controlled by their mechanical behavior
during the thermal processing. To simplify this investigation, the scattered network of inclu-
sions by a squared regular matrix has been opted (Figure 7).
Initially, we limited our calculations only to four inclusions dispersed at the tops of the ele-
mentary square. In this case, the internal pressure values also depend on the zirconia content
with 32 µm as inclusion diameter. The typical behaviors of different types of inclusions during
the deformation are schematically given in Figure 8.
From figure 8, we note that the reduction in inter-inclusions distance (black zones) involves
the increase in compression (blue network). So, in the restricted blue zone if the constraint
is low or almost zero, the deviation of a crack, which is propagated in the matrix will not
take place where the distance inter-inclusions is higher than 140 µm for the dispersion of
inclusions containing 65%Al2 O3 +35%ZrO2 in an alumina matrix.

Figure . Distribution of the first main stress field near of various inter-inclusion distances « d ». (a) d =
 µm, (b) d=  µm, (c), d =  µm, (d) d =  µm.
 MOL. CRYST. LIQ. CRYST. 147

Figure . Example of deviation of a crack in a plate containing of inclusions.

Figure 9 shows an example of a crack deviation propagated in one stamp out of alumina
containing spherical inclusions. The cracks are propagated in the zones of weak energies with
a deviation of the cracks induced by skirting of the black spherical zones and zones put in
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compression in blue. Similar phenomenon was already observed in experiments reported by

Lutz [11–13].

4. Conclusion
We have used the finite element method to study the distribution of the principal stress fields
in Al2 O3 -ZrO2 matrix with several inclusions. Results show that the reinforcement is ensured
by the transformation of zirconia phase in the reinforcement zones. In addition, the principal
stress fields are influenced by the residual stress field around inclusions. This residual stress
field is very high at inclusion-matrix interface.
Consequently, the developed model led to optimize the inter-inclusion distance and allows
the crack deviation propagated in alumina matrix.

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